Kalimpong, Oct. 2: A statue of freedom fighter Dal Bahadur Giri was unveiled at Thana Dara today.

The installation of the statue, brought from Siliguri, is seen as the first step of the DGHC to honour the freedom fighters from the hills. The DGHC plans to install more such statues to show respect to the people who laid down their lives for independence. The cost of the statue is estimated to be Rs 1,50,000.

The council decided to unveil the statue on Gandhi Jayanti because Giri was popularly known a Pahari Gandhi (Gandhi of the hills).

Giri, who was born in Chowk Bazar, Darjeeling, on March 8, 1887, is said to have come to Kalimpong after 1916. He is also said to have attended the Congress Conference in Nagpur. It was after the Nagpur conference in 1920 that Giri established a Congress office at Pedong.

Speaking at today’s ceremony, All India Freedom Fighter Federation general secretary Daljit Sen Aadel, who had come from Delhi, said, “Dal Bahadur Giri’s contribution to the independence movement ranks with the likes of Bhagat Singh, and Chandrashekar Azad.”

“The birthday of Mahatma Gandhi is an apt occasion to pay homage to a freedom fighter like Dal Bahadur Giri,” he added. Speaking of the DGHC’s plans, GNLF president of the Kalimpong branch Dawa Pakhrin said: “There are a lot of freedom fighters like Jangabir Sapkota from the hills who struggled to free the nation from the yoke of British rule but are yet to get due respect. Not many know of their exploits, so we are now planning to build more statues of the freedom fighters from the hills.”

“Gandhi had written a letter to his family expressing his sadness, after Giri passed away,” he added.

Giri is also said to have been jailed twice in 1921 for going against the British rule. He also organised a public meeting at Darjeeling at that time.

“We had to make great sacrifices to give India her freedom. It is up to the youth to make the country a better place and not take the freedom for granted.”